On
The Ona people (endonym: On lit: "the people") are the main inhabitants of the southeastern islands of Intacar (lit: "many islands," part of the island chain between the continents of Zephyria and Borea) as well as the southern hook of a peninusla of Borea. The On are a mostly peaceful agricultural people, with numerous tribes scattered over the region. Climate and Geography Much of the region where the On live is relatively hilly with various small mountain ranges and occasional volcanoes. The influence of the Bacref (lit: "far-reaching water," the name the On give to the ocean that surrounds them) keeps the temperature moderate year round, with average highs around 15° to 25°C during the summer, and around 5° to 15°C during the winter. Average rainfall is slightly higher in the winter, though there isn't much difference between the season's rainfall and the average rainfall is about 100mm per Earth month. Native Life Various types of trees can be round in the region, including redwoods (bacfan, lit: "far-reaching tree"), oaks (tactacfan, lit: "ball tree"), maples (ferfan, lit: "air tree"), Douglas firs (marpapfan, lit: "finger tree"), and western red cedars (simaifan, lit: "small tree"). The native names for these trees in most cases comes from a simple description of their seeds, followed by fan, "tree." Other plant life includes raspberries (intacpoc, lit: "many berries"), blueberries (lictacpoc, lit: "blue-berry") and huckleberries (zictacpoc, lit: "red-berry") as well as various other bushes (maifan, lit: "short tree"). Grass (arpobbim, lit: "land hair") is rare in the west, but occasionally can be found in clearings, as well as in more areas to the eastern regions of the On's territory. The animal life in the forests includes elk and deer (ga), rabbits (sifercu, lit: "hopper"), skunks (sipomfed, lit: "stink animal"), various birds (ferfed, lit: "air animal"), lynxes (cet), cougars (simuecet, lit: "big lynx"), wolverines (cua), and bears (simuecua, lit: "big wolverine"). While most life in the forests is similar to Earth life, there are several notable exceptions such as the gutar, a reptilian horse-like animal that the On have managed to domesticate. There also also the caon, a similar but smaller animal, which looks a bit like a cross between a dog and a large lizard, the sa, a small velociraptor-like predator that can occasionally be found around the farms, and the faninpur, a highly intelligent, arboreal squid-like animal. Finally the related gutarca would most likely be considered to be a form of dinosaur by looks, it is roughly the size of an elephant and has a moderately long neck that it uses to pick leaves out of the trees. Resources Wood is a major resource of the region due to the numerous large trees, and the surrounding ocean and the various rivers are full of fish (reffed, lit: "water animal") including trout (caor), and salmon (vupcaor, lit: "moving trout"). The various tribal medicines are crafted mainly from the plants of the region, and occasionally also use animal products. Various metal deposits are scattered thought the region, though the on currently have no use for it, aside from the occasional discovery of gold (muacboc, lit: "golden rock") nuggets in the rivers. Appearance The On have a relatively Asian appearance, with course, dark, straight hair, ranging in color from medium brown to black. Both genders usually wear their hair to around slightly below the level of the neck, with the daoqon (shaman) having much longer hair, often braided, reaching all the way down their back. Their eyes have epicanthic folds and usually are bark brown, almost black, or brown, though hazel eyes are possible. Their noses are small, and they also have prominent cheekbones, with noticeable fat around the cheek area. Skin colors ranges from moderately light to moderately tan, and average height is around 164cm for men and 160cm for women. The On have difficulty in growing facial hair as well. Diet The On have a basic agricultural society with some hints of hunter-gatherism. Part of their main direct consist of zit, a sort of wheat-like grass from the eastern regions that has since been spread throughout the region. To this they add various berries that grow in the region, including raspberries, blueberries and huckleberries, as well as occasional deer or elk, rabbits, and birds. Beer (zitref) is also commonly drunk. Fish, mainly trout, though also other fish such as salmon and various other seafood including crabs (reffedinpur, lit: "fish of many legs") and clams (bocreffed, lit: "rock fish"), are also a large part of the On's diet. Structures Most buildings are made out of the wood of red cedars, and are built out of large planks of the wood, in a style similar to that of the plankhourses of the Pacific Northwest Native Americans. The design of the main type of building is similar to the longhouses of eastern Native Americans, and is called a muedef (lit: "long-house"). Muedef have a main lower level with wooden screens separating the muedef into rooms, where everyone in a village lives, as well as a simple second level consisting of mats where people sleep. Usually a village has a handful of smaller def, usually one room, where firewood is stored, or where food is smoked. These outbuildings usually have covered walkways connecting them to the muedef, allowing firewood to be transported without it getting wet, even in a storm. A wooden fence normally surrounds the village along with its farms, in some larger cities this becomes a full blown city wall. Culture and Religion The main person in a village, and the closest thing to a village chief, is the daoqon (shaman). The daoqon is normally one of the oldest people in the village, and they are in charge of the medicine in the village, as well as communicating with the daocu (spirits) that are believed to be present throughout the entire world. The daoqon communicates with the daocu though the use of fire, as well as song and dance, often alongside most of the rest of the village. Additionally, the daoqon has a younger partner, who the daoqon teaches and raises, and who will become the next daoqon once the original dies. The daocu have two main groups, the randaocu, which are the spirits of nature, including the trees, water, sun, moon, sky, and land, and the rundaocu, which are the spirits of dead ancestors. If the cardaocu are kept happy, they will help the people, while if they are displeased, they will go out of the way to cause the people problems. Rituals There are 5 major rituals done by the On: the Nucpas, the Naccupas, the Nacdaoqonpas, the Vupcaorpas, and the Runpas. The Nucpas celebrates the birth of a new baby, the Naccupas is the choosing of the younger partner of the daoqon, the Nacdaoqonpas celebrates the naming of the new daoqon, the Vupcaorpas celebrates the annual return of the salmon to the streams, and the Runpas honors the newly deceased. Organization Each village has around 100 or so people, with larger villages ranging up to around 1000, and villages are normally widely spaced. Most of the population lives along the coasts of the islands or the Bacar, though many do extend farther inland along the numerous rivers in the area. War is relatively rare due to strong ties between others of their people, and most "wars" bear more relation to mock hunting battles, with one tribe taking the role of the hunter, and attacking the other with fake weapons such as large rolled up leaves, often fashioned to resemble real weapons. Then later the two tribes would switch rolls, and the "hunted" tribe would attempt to remain unseen by the "hunters." Ties are weaker between a tribe and other tribes on different landmasses, and any battles between tribes on different islands are likely to be actual battles, though these rarely occur due to the distances involved, not many tribes are large enough to sustain overseas battles. There is currently no long-range organization, the region is best described as a mass of numerous city-states. Clothing Most On clothing is relatively simple, with both genders wearing the same thing: A skirt, or a dress in cooler weather, made out of the fluffy seeds of a cottonwood-like tree (mapfan, lit: "clothing tree"), often along with a rawhide belt. This clothing is usually simply designed, due to a relative lack of cottonwood seeds most of the year requiring it to preserved, and is also normally uncolored, though some elders may have lightly coloring clothing. However, the daoqon's clothing is often highly colored, though it retains the lack of other decoration of the other's clothing. Shoes are made out of rawhide as well in a moccasin-like design, though they are normally only worn in the winter. Weapons and Tools The weapons of the On are still relatively simple, and consist of the sifansiqof (lit: "wood-weapon"), which is a simple wooden club, the bocsiqof (lit: "stone-weapon"), which is basically an early hammer-type weapon with a stone head, as well as the bimsiqof (lit: "line-weapon"), a spear, usually tipped with bone or stone. During mock hunts, unsharpened stick are used as spears and the clubs/hammers are made out of leaves tied together. Tools include rope (sifanbim, lit: wood-line), various forms of pottery (cuvboc, lit: fire-stone) used both decoratively and for storing food or water, the potter's wheel (cuvboctac, lit: pottery circle), knives (marcu, lit: cutter) for preparing food, or sometimes as a weapon, as well as various implements for farming, such as hoes (zitbimcu, lit: zit-liner.) and simple scythes (zitmarcu, lit: zit-knife). Onpotcor Language main article: Proto Onpotcor see also: Proto Onpotcor-Qhalqon Swadesh Lists The On currently speak a mutually intelligible mix of dialects, with the main differences occurring between the island and the mainland, with each landmass speaking mostly the same dialect. The mainland dialects, in particular, have a tendency to turn plosives into fricatives intervocalicly. The language is a mainly prefixing OVS languages, with a ©V(V)© syllable structure. Category: On Category:Cultures of Borea